Flavor Revolution Pineapple
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.18 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Flavor Revolution Pineapple, 1,3 and 5%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 17 days.
Flavor Description: Bright, tart artificial pineapple with some thinness and concentration issues.
There is some realistic pineapple in here. It's more of a bright, acidic fresh pineapple than the heavier canned pineapple of something like CAP Golden Pineapple. There's a nice, bright tartness to this that captures the fresher parts of a pineapple pretty well. There's a bit of a floral edge in the top notes though, and it ends up tasting a bit chemical next to that brighter pineapple.
The actual body of the flavor does taste a bit artificial, but it's not quite the thick white gummy bear kind of candy pineapple, at least solo. It's tarter and sweet, but the lack of body almost makes it feel like the candy pineapple they use in a lot of Mexican drinks and candies.
The mouthfeel here is thinner and dry. While you get some pineapple juice kind of flavor, the texture is much drier than that. The finish here, like the grand total of the other 2 FR flavors I've tasted so far, is fairly light. With the floral, artificial edge gets almost a bit astringent. Sweetness level is pretty dead on for an artificial pineapple but it feels a little chalky from the dryness of the flavor.
Comparing this to some of the other available pineapples, this feels like it's somewhere between TPA and INW. There's quite a bit of that candy tartness like the TPA, and some of that pineapple juice body to it like INW. Substantially less concentrated than the TPA version, although it's probably just a bit weaker than INW at the same percentage.
Off-flavors: A bit chemical and floral. Not wildly out of line for thinner pineapple flavors, but it's an issue. These brighter pineapple flavors also have a bit of a sulfur-y garlic off-note, although it's really subtle and shouldn't really call attention to itself mixed. I'd call it less prominent than INW Pineapple.
Throat Hit: Moderate. This feels less harsh than something like TPA Pineapple, but it does still have a bit of a bit to it. The dryness doesn't help.
Percentage testing: At 1%, I'm not getting much out this. There's a light, soft pineapple on the inhale, and the exhale feels pretty dead. Light sweetness, tastes fairly realistic if incredibly soft.
At 3%, this isn't a whole lot more vibrant. Maybe a bit more saturated, but still pretty soft. A bit sweeter, and turning over to more of an artificial pineapple. Starting to get fairly dry for me.
I'm honestly not getting much in the way of additional flavor at 5%. Still feels soft, but those artificial floralish notes are kicking up and the sweetness is higher but it still feels thin.
I was a little stumped, so I ended up mixing this at 8% and 12%. It only has 2 days worth of steep on it, but it doesn't really seem to help the situation. Just dryer, more artificial, and slightly sweeter. Just based on these tests, I'd probably give up after 4% with this flavor, higher concentrations don't seem to help.
Uses & Pairings: I'm not sure if there are any applications that this is going to be your preferred pineapple. It doesn't really have much vibrancy or punch to it, and the flavor profile is available from fuller pineapples.
With that said, I'd use it like a weaker version of INW Pineapple... which is a bit scary. It's probably best for light pineapple top notes, leaving the actual body of the flavor to other concentrates. Should blend well with mangos, or a deeper pineapple like CAP Golden Pineapple. Really, it should blend fairly well with just about any fruit you throw at it, although I'd watch for stuff that was already dry or floral.
Second Opinions: One note on ELR, substantially more positive than my experience. User "juice junkie" writes: "Mixed at 2% and steeped a month. Used an entheon rda 0.3 ohms 35 watts. WOW! This is a really good pineapple flavor! Its nice and sweet, crisp, and juicy! This one is a keeper for sure. No bad after taste. It almost has a dole pineapple juice (in a can) kind of flavor. Could see this working really good with other tropical fruits and especially tropical strawberry!" No mention of any saturation issues. Maybe I'm just broken.
AFAIK, these are only available through Nicotine River. The product page is here. Not much info besides a description: "A fresh cut, raw Pineapple as if it had a slight tint of green! A necessity for almost an tropical blend and a secret weapon for many desserts or medleys! Suggested starting percentage: 2% and adjust to taste."